The Player

This brilliant satire, styled as a murder mystery, is the best insider's view of Hollywood since "Sunset Boulevard." [15 Dec 1992, p.A16(E)]

Joins company with "Sullivan's Travels" and "Sunset Boulevard" as the quintessential Hollywood peek-a-boos...[and] Tim Robbins' modulated performance rates rhapsodic praise. [10 Apr 1992]

The film, which begins with a single, gorgeously sustained eight-minute camera move, is blissfully out of touch with contemporary trends in moviemaking...surprising, both in style and narrative.

A rare commodity. It's brilliant and a guilty pleasure. A subtle damning of things Hollywood, Robert Altman's seriocomedy slices its target with a thousand, imperceptible razor cuts.

Mercilessly satiric yet good-natured, this enormously entertaining slam dunk quite possibly is the most resonant Hollywood saga since the days of "Sunset Blvd." and "The Bad and the Beautiful."

A hilarious and deftly convincing satire.

In crudest terms, there's no one to root for, and unlike Mamet or Pinter, for instance, the story isn't remotely strong enough to thrive without such a center… [The film s]trains hard to be smart and is ultimately repellent. [11 May 1992]

Directed by the legendary Robert Altman, The Player is a riveting tale of murder, suspense, and Hollywood, featuring stellar acting from a largely low-key cast (other than Tim Robbins, who isn't huge and wasn't at the time for sure). Great direction and acting bolster this one greatly, but really, it is the fantastic writing that wraps it all up with a bow, as this one is the complete package. I find Hollywood and the behind the scenes stuff endlessly interesting, so this one is of course going to be in the wheelhouse, but I enjoyed the satirical tone of the film and how it blended with the serious elements of murder. The imagery and symbolism is also very cool here and worthy of mention, as it is those small elements that really make this one a cool watch. Very intriguing, slightly funny, and brilliantly put together, The Player is a winner.

This is a good satire, one of the best of late Altman, the relationship between Tim Robbins and Cynthia Stevenson. Not the best in any category but the time flew by.

Legendary director Robert Altman delivers a fittingly misanthropic and jet black glimpse into the abyss that can be (is?) Los Angeles and the Hollywood studio system with "The Player," a cleverly plotted and staged satire with a whole lot to say about the effects that the market can have on forms of creativity and the morality puzzles that can sometimes lie within. Interestingly, this film mirrors a couple of other films from the early 90's involving the same sort of subject matter - "Barton Fink" and "Swimming With Sharks." And while both of these films do different things well enough, I think if I'm to judge which actually functions the best as a soul-crushing jab at the infrastructural behemoth that is Hollywood, I'm going to have to side with "The Player." There's just something about the dire, thrilling, hilarious, romantic, and terrifying tones juggled all throughout this film that left me feeling pretty impressed. And the performances are all in order as well, with a terrific turn from Tim Robbins in particular. And though it's no "Gosford Park," it's definitely one of the more impressive Altman film's I've seen.